The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 04 (of 12): Dresden Edition—LecturesIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 04 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Lectures
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
In the fifteenth chapter is the account of the woman of Canaan who cried
unto Jesus, saying: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David. My
daughter is sorely vexed with a devil." On account of her faith Christ
made the daughter whole.
In the sixteenth chapter a man brought his son to Jesus. The boy was
a lunatic, sore vexed, oftentimes falling in the fire and water. The
disciples had tried to cure him and had failed. Jesus rebuked the devil,
and the devil departed out of him and the boy was cured. Was the devil
in this case a personification of evil?
The disciples then asked Jesus why they could not cast that devil out.
Jesus told them that it was because of their unbelief, and then added:
"Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." From this
it would seem that some personifications were easier to expel than
others.
The first chapter of Mark throws a little light on the story of the
temptation of Christ. Matthew tells us that Jesus was led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. In Mark we are
told who this Spirit was:
"And straightway coming up out of the water he saw the heavens opened,
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.
"And there came a voice from heaven, saying: 'Thou art my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased.'
"And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness."
Why the Holy Ghost should hand Christ over to the tender mercies of
the Devil is not explained. And it is all the more wonderful when we
remember that the Holy Ghost was the third person in the Trinity and
Christ the second, and that this Holy Ghost was, in fact, God, and that
Christ also was, in fact, God, so that God led God into the wilderness
to be tempted of the Devil.
We are told that Christ was in the wilderness forty days tempted of
Satan, and was with the wild beasts, and that the angels ministered unto
him.
Were these angels real angels, or were they personifications of good, of
comfort?
So we see that the same Spirit that came out of heaven, the same Spirit
that said "This is my beloved son," drove Christ into the wilderness to
be tempted of Satan.
Was this Devil a real being? Was this Spirit who claimed to be the
father of Christ a real being, or was he a personification? Are the
heavens a real place? Are they a personification? Did the wild beasts
live and did the angels minister unto Christ? In other words, is the
story true, or is it poetry, or metaphor, or mistake, or falsehood?
It might be asked: Why did God wish to be tempted by the Devil? Was God
ambitious to obtain a victory over Satan? Was Satan foolish enough
to think that he could mislead God, and is it possible that the Devil
offered to give the world as a bribe to its creator and owner, knowing
at the same time that Christ was the creator and owner, and also knowing
that he (Christ) knew that he (the Devil) knew that he (Christ) was the
creator and owner?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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